Puppies at 3 to 3 ½ weeks
Time to start potty training
using the "Misty Method"
Contrary to some beliefs, potty
training a puppy should start with the breeder very early in life. It is
very important at 3 to 3.5 weeks old, when the pups become mobile, and
start to potty on their own, to set their room up PROPERLY. It is not
really a natural thing for a dog to pee or poop in his crate. Wolf
mothers are meticulous about keeping the "nest" very clean. So, once
a baby starts eating solid food, and the mother no longer cleans it
up because they can walk at this point too, (at this point the mama
wolf and den mates would have trained the pups to eliminate outside
the den) it is up to the BREEDER to keep the box/nest very clean.
This causes an aversion to poop and pee. When this is done right, by
the time the buyer purchases the pup, he will already be ready to
not pee in his crate or bed. They do not pee or poop where they eat
or where they sleep. So believe it or not, what goes on from the
time of birth to the time you buy the pup, plays a big role on the
young life and what a buyer will be faced with. With this in mind, a
breeder named Bev Dorma from Misty Trails Havanese / Mastiffs has
created a method called the "Misty Method". It is basically a way of
raising the pups that gives them a concept of housetraining at an
early age. This in return not only helps the breeder keep the
whelping area clean, it makes the puppy easier to housebreak once
they go to their new homes. A win, win for everyone... Within these
pages she explains how the method works step by step.
This means, a designated potty
area, a place to eat and play, and a place to sleep. You can see that I
have now changed the room around, and have made it bigger. The potty
area should be the farthest away, as when you enter the room, they all
jump at you, and want up, and you do not want them jumping in their
poop. The bed area should be closest to the area nearest to where you
enter the room.
These puppies are all gathered in
the play/eating area enjoying their dinner.
| The pups decide to take a nap and
many of them, on their own, gather into the sleeping area. If you look
to the left, on the paper, you can see that many have gone over their to
pee, before going for a nap. |
|
|
After puppies eat, they naturally
feel the need to eliminate, This good little puppy has left the play/
eating area and made his way into the potty area to do his business.
What a good puppy! This is the first step towards potting training a
puppy. Potty training should start with the breeder. This type of
raising a puppy is called the Misty Method and is a regular practice of
Misty Trails Mastiffs /
Havanese. Puppies raised using this method
are easier to housebreak and have less accidents in the house, as you
are distilling the concept of housebreaking
into them at a very young age. They learn from the
start, there is a place to sleep, a place to play, a place to eat and a
place to eliminate and they will carry this concept with them after they
leave the breeder. Puppies who are raised in cages where the areas are
not separated do not understand this concept. They learn they can
eliminate anywhere they wish at anytime they wish. Than, after you take
them home, you suddenly expect them to understand they cannot pee and
poo in the house.
Puppy pee, the potty area is lined
with long sheets of paper that can be rolled up for easy cleanup. This
is roll ends of newsprint. Newspaper does work, but the ink can transfer
onto the dogs and for white pups, this is not good. Soon, I may change
to wood chips, BUT NOT CEDAR CHIPS. I like to wait till they are 4 to 5
weeks. I NEVER use litter for puppies. That only works for cats. For
Large breed dogs, pine shavings works, but not on the small breeds.
For small breeds paper, or puppy pads is best and you may need to
weight it down, so they don't shred it and if they try and shred it,
you just have to say "NO". They usually don't start to shred their
bedding until they are 7 weeks.
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At 3½ week, the pups were all
sleeping, due to eat in a half hour. Upon waking, ALL of the pups
went from their sleeping area to the potty area to poop/pee.
I cover the poop with a small
piece of paper so the others do not walk in it.
These pups are only 3½ weeks
old and they already get the concept of housebreaking. The place
where you sleep and the place where you play, is not the same place
you poop and pee. As a result, the owners of these pups will have an
easier time housetraining their new puppy.
A brief summery of the Misty
Method...
Use a whelp box for the first
2½ weeks, with a lip, so ONLY the Dam can get out, but the pups are
contained. (make sure the lip is low enough so the dam doesn't have
to blindly leap in, but can aim her step in, and high enough so pups
do not get out and get chilled.
For Large breeds -at 2½ to 3 weeks the paper MUST be right outside
the door.
For Small breeds - at 3 to 3½ weeks the paper MUST be right outside
the door.
And the lip/door removed, so the pups can get out of the whelp box
on their own, and find their way back in.
(Kind of like removing the Den door)
THEN, you can move the potty area farther and farther away from the
bed. Pups like it at opposite ends.
When they are 3 to 4 weeks, they will come out of their bed and pee
right away, sometimes they only get the front feet out.
After they are more mobile, you move the potty away from the bed
area. I will line a litter box with paper, but not litter.
Ideally at 6 to 7 weeks old, you have an 8 x 10' area, for small
breeds, and a larger area for large breeds with a bed in one corner,
and food and potty at opposite sides of the pen.
Note: The stools should never be soft, and never be mushy. If they are soft or mushy (pudding like) ask the vet for enough wormer, to worm all the puppies and mom. Take a stool sample in for testing. The stool shouldn't smell horribly bad. If the stool is not solid and it smells horrible, you want to check for stool Coccidia (Coccidiosis). Loose stools also make the job of cleaning up after your pups 10 times harder.
Stools should be like little chocolate bars. It is normal to have bouts, of soft stool, but do not let it continue on an ongoing basis. Find out why, and get them solid again. otherwise, they will run through it, as well, and become a real mess, and track it everywhere.
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Misty Method's FAQ
1. What if my pups are still eliminating both urine and feces in the sleeping/playing area?
Sleep area should NEVER have feces in it, you have to start changing that bedding every hour if needed, if a puppy poops, you cannot just pick it up, as the smell will remain. Also, if they walk in the poop, and then walk on thier bedding, they have put feces smell on the blankets. so, I also cover the poop with a small piece of paper so the others do not walk in it.
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2. Mom continues to eat the elimination matter and my pups are 4 weeks old, is this normal?
Yes, this is normal. Some dams quit the second you start to feed the puppies, others, can continue for a week.
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3. When the pups actually use the potty pads in the potty area, they step in the feces and track it all over the pen...
This is why I personally do not use pee pads, I use un-inked roll ends of paper, and every time a puppy poops, I cover it. For large breeds I use the shavings, because if a puppy gets feces on his feet, and tracks that smell into the bed, or play area, another puppy will smell it, and eliminate there. A WEEK of constant supervision, and you have them trained, and if you do not, you have weeks of overload work ahead of you. I would put in a couple crates, with clean bedding, and have the rest paper. NO play area on the first day of potty training. Then slowly make a play area, each day, making it a little bigger... and clean, clean the floor every hour.
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4. A couple of the pups actually sleep ON the used potty pads...
I cover the used ones up as fast as I can. The problem with the pee pads, is they are plastic on the bottom, so when you cover up the one below, you are adding a nice smelling fresh pad.. YOU DON'T WANT THIS. You want the potty area to smell like a potty, yuk for a few days, and you want bedding area to smell clean. Just a guess of what is happening is this; pups eliminate on a pee pad, and step in it, and track the smell to play area and bed. Then you put a fresh pee pad on top of the old one, and now, the pee pad smells good, and the bed smells like pee/poop.
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5. I am looking for one of those weaning bras for my dog and can't find them anywhere. Where do you get them?
For small dogs you can use a human baby onesies suit. For the bigger dogs, you need to get a T-shirt. Fairly large, and then you buy a bed sheet clamping holder (Sheet Straps). They are about 6 inches long, and they sell them in a store, to put on the corner of flat sheets, to turn them into fitted sheets. They are elasticized. They have the clamps on the end, like ladies used to wear to hold their stockings up. You just sinch the tshirt on with them, but it may be hard to cover the bottom two teats.
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6. At 6 weeks, the puppies do very well eliminating where they are supposed to MOST of the time. However, they don't have a complete aversion to mess. I routinely see them spending time in the potty area sleeping or chewing a toy or playing with another puppy that is in there to "go".
This happens, I put up a barricade, by taking 2 pieces of thick plywood, making a CORNER to put in front of the potty entrance. It is portable and I put it over the paper. It acts as a paper weight, so they cannot drag the paper and when they are playing, they run, and hit the wall, and don't play on the paper. and by 6.5 weeks old, they KNOW where the paper is, they can learn to walk an extra 2 feet and around the corner to get into the potty area. It works awesome. Still the odd one goes in there to play.
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7. I have 4 week old puppies. How long does it take them to figure out to go to the pee pads. I have had it there for 5 days and it is hit and miss, still peeing on sleeping area.
You don't want them to pee on their sleeping area. Ideally you catch them before they start, and then it takes about 3 or 4 days of being Extremely consistent, and changing the bedding as soon as one has a boo boo. After 3 days, of smelling fresh bedding, and paper that smells like pee, they get it. I do not have much luck with pee pads. They don't work as well as the un-inked paper. I find, with the un-inked paper, you can cover the paper, with another piece of paper, and cover the poop and pee, leaving the scent of pee, without them tracking it back to their bed. BUT, if you put a pee pad, over a pee pad, it masks the scent. If you can get a pee pad, with just pee, and pick up the poop, but leave skid marks, it may work. I just find, that leaving the bed, smelling fresh, and the potty area clean, but smelling of pee, helps, for the first 4 days, just till they get it; they do not pee in their bed, and if they step on the pee pad, and it is saturated, and their feet get covered, in pee, they track it too their bed. Wake them up, every couple hours, and put them out on the paper, don't let them back into the bed area, until they pee ON the paper.
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Courtesy of MistyTrails Mastiff's
Pups 4 weeks old - More on potty
training
